Friday, June 30, 2017

They're more than their problemsObsessive-compulsive teen Clarissa wants to get better, if only so her mother will stop asking her if she's okay.Andrew wants to overcome his eating disorder so he can get back to his band and their dreams of becoming famous.Film aficionado Ben would rather live in the movies than in reality.Gorgeous and overly confident Mason thinks everyone is an idiot.And Stella just doesn't want to be back for her second summer of wilderness therapy.As the five teens get to know one another and work to overcome the various disorders that have affected their lives, they find themselves forming bonds they never thought they would, discovering new truths about themselves and actually looking forward to the future.

I received this ARC from Miss Print's (Emma) ARC Adoption over here! Thank you Emma!

This will be a hard review to tackle, so please bear with me.

Four Weeks, Five People is told in alternating 5-POVs from the characters attending a wilderness therapy camp for the summer for their respective disorders. Stella has an anger-based depression and it's her second time coming to the camp. Clarisa has OCD and has a mother who is never satisfied with anything she does. Ben has a dissociative disorder and makes everything in his life into a movie. Mason has narcissist personality disorder and he thinks everyone at the camp is below him. Andrew has an eating disorder and he yearns to return back to his band and make them famous.

The five of them are stuck together for four weeks and learn much about themselves and the people surrounding them.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

This was my second time attending BookExpo & third time attending BookCon, and it was still as exciting as it has always been. I skipped BookExpo/BookCon last year since it moved to Chicago, and I wasn't completely sure I would be attending this year until two or three months before, but I am glad I did!

Here are just some of my highlights from that week:

BookExpo (June 1 & 2)

Penguin Random House (and specifically Penguin Teen) definitely deserves a shoutout for their wonderful staff & lineup. They had so many popular signings, like for Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Womanand Marie Lu's Warcross, and they managed the lines pretty well; I didn't have any trouble trying to find the line. Their staff, including volunteers, were also very friendly and nice to chat with!

Some of my favorites from Day 1 of the show:

Owlcrate's wheel, which consisted of either recent YA books or YA related swag, such as candles and calendars. I wonRoseblood by A.G. Howard from the wheel.

Disney also did a drop forThe Dreadful Tale of Prosper Reddingby Alexandra Bracken, which I didn't know about prior to the show so that was a nice surprise! And the art is just stunning. I mean, look at this!

(Photo from Amazon)

I also made it to the drop for Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen, which I had been anticipating since I absolutely loved Gaughen'sScarlet series.

Some of my favorites from Day 2 of the show:

Of course, Marie Lu's Warcross signing on the second day was wonderful as expected.

Perhaps my most anticipated event for BookExpo and BookCon was Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman; it was my first time meeting Leigh, and I was just in the middle of reading Crooked Kingdom so that was a nice touch. The line for the signing started over an hour before, and it was nice to have book buddies to sit down with to pass the time. :-)

One of the last things I did at BookExpo was meet Julie Dao at her signing forFires of a Thousand Lanternsand let me tell you - she was an absolute sweetheart! I cannot wait to read her debut.

I also met Holly Black, who was so friendly and a pleasure to chat with.

Scholastic also dropped Maggie Stiefvater's All the Crooked Saints, which wasn't announced pre-show, so that was a pleasant surpirse!

One thing I noticed is that Little Brown/The NOVL does not announce any dates and times for its events prior ro the show, so it's definitely worth heading there early on to grab their schedule.

The atomosphere was great, the lines went by fast, and BookExpo 2017 was even better than my first year (2015).

My BEA book "star" :D

BookCon (June 3rd)
BookCon is an annual thing I do with my friends, so above all, for me, it was more hanging out with my friends with the added bonus of being around books and authors. I only went the first day and didn't really plan a schedule.

If I can summarize BookCon into one word, it'll be lines.
Lines everywhere. Things at BEA that had absolutely no line (such as the Grishaverse) was swarmed on BookCon.

Despite the crazy crowds, I did have a great time.

Penguin had a bunch of random giveaways throughout the day with no coherent line, and they had a pretty cool giveaway promoting their new Underlined product. We got a zippered tote, a box with two books and some swag, a pouch, and a beach towel for signing up for Underlined. One of the books was The Golden Compass, which I've been thinking of reading anyway, so that was a cool surprise.

The only signing I went to at BookCon was the meet and greet for Kerri Maniscalo (Hunting Prince Dracula) and Lyndsay Ely (Gunslinger Girl). In fact, I think my next read may be Hunting Price Dracula.

I left not long after since I was still a bit tired from BookExpo, and the crowds were just not my thing.

OVERALL VERDICT:

BookExpo - A fabulous *insert many other positive adjectives here* event that I would reccommend to anyone with any role in the industry, whether it be blogging or selling.

BookCon - It's a nice event to enjoy with family or friends, but beware of the crowds.